Glossy Ibis

Last week I took a look at the Río Guadiaro in Cadiz province. It was a hot afternoon and so I decided to have a swim in the river. When I had swum a little way downstream I noticed a glossy ibis standing on the stony margin just where the pool became shallow and before it was funnelled and broken in a shallow section of fast water. It was a beautiful place this and I guess it would be relatively undisturbed since the bankside growth was difficult to pass through. The only way to get here was to swim. Since there was little of me sticking out of the water I tried to get as close as I could before frightening the ibis away and managed to come within about 8 metres of it before it decided it didn´t like the look of me and took to the air.

The glossy ibis is one of two ibis species we have in Spain, the other being the hermit ibis or northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremite) which seems to be extremely rare and not to breed in Europe. The remaining stronghold for the hermit is across the water in Morocco but its worldwide population is only about 500 birds in the wild and perhaps twice that number in captivity.

It is sad that this striking bird that used to be quite widespread in much of Europe is now critically endangered. Happily things are going much better for the glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) which is actually the most widespread species of ibis in the world. In Andalucía their numbers have been growing strongly in recent years. I have seen them at Doñana national park but the solitary bird I found on the banks of the Guadiaro was the only other I have seen.

Interestingly, I once came across a sacred ibis feeding among some little egrets on the bank of the Guadalhorce. These are the ibis that are often shown in Egyptian heiroglyphics. To ancient Egyptians the ibis represented the god Thoth, god of wisdom, knowledge and writing, and was considered the herald of the flood.

I was so excited when I saw the sacred ibis on my local river that I went home to grab a camera to film it. I sent a report to the rare bird people here in Spain but they never got back to me. It is very likely that this bird was an escapee. I think that the sacred ibis is no longer even found in Egypt. I have since read that escapee birds have been found in Spain and. particularly, in France and that they have even been successful in setting up small colonies. They do not seem to be European birds though and we have no european fossils. Their current stronghold is in sub-Saharan Africa.